My State of the Union: Happy Second Birthday SCU!

Today is the day that SCU was born, two years ago. In fact, I cannot believe its been two years already. Feels like yesterday I was just another angry collector. Although the blog is two years old now, reaching over 20,000 visitors per month, and is responsible for people recognizing me at card shows, its still fun to do each and every day. I cant think of a reason why I would have kept going if it hadnt been fun this whole time. I have obviously had my ups and downs, built and burned bridges, and even inspired a few hate blogs in retaliation, but that is never an occurance I would have fathomed possible in the beginning of this site. SCU has outgrown even my own dreams for this once tiny blog.

When I started SCU, I was looking for a place to write, mainly because of my background in English from my undergrad at George Washington U. I loved creative writing, and I knew that I wanted some place to express it. Unlike most creative writers, I needed to write solely about something I love, and cards became that subject after a few tries at other things. Its rare that one can find something that provides as much material as this hobby has, and I am glad to say that material is not drying up either.

I think its also rare to find a community of people like we have here in the card blogger network, something that is one of the best things about the hobby. When I started you could pretty much count the blogs on two hands, instead of now, where hundreds of people have signed up to write about what they collect. I didn’t even know about sites like Stale Gum or Wax Heaven at the beginning of my tenure here, but I soon came to understand what it meant to have to work to get to the top. Chris and Mario were two of the first people to welcome me to the net, even going above and beyond to help educate me in some cases. It was easy to see how much work they put into their sites, and it was where I discovered how to turn SCU into where it is today. Although the community is much, much bigger now, I consistently see others working together to spread the word, supporting their bretheren and sisteren(?) regardless of whether or not they agree. A blogger is a blogger, no matter the site, and almost all of us understand that speaking out is worth supporting, no matter the discussion topics.

The community itself has led to a number of events that wouldn’t be possible without a wonderful community. Whether it’s the wildly successful group breaks on here and other sites, the blog bat around (which will be making a comeback shortly), or even just the twitter discussions we all seem to have daily, we have created a media source unlike any other. No editors or people to answer to, no alterior motives, no bullshit, we do it because we love it, and that’s what makes it great.

On top of all of that, blogs have often become the defacto police force of the internet, a role I take very seriously here. Fakes and scams have always been a huge target for me, even before SCU, as my crusader nature has always lent well to rooting out the douchebags who make the hobby a terrible place. I will voice a commitment to continue that as long as this site is up, as I don’t think I will ever be able to let someone take advantage of an uninformed collector without saying something first. Not only that, but I hope others will do the same thing, as our voices collectively is much more powerful.

Now that two years have past, its tough not to look towards the future, which is becoming more and more uncertain with the drastic changes coming in my life. Although Im not sure how active I will be able to stay, I know that all the people who live to hate me arent going to win any time soon. You have already seen guest posts from Voluntarheel, and he will not be the only one taking up the SCU flag in the future. One of the great things about having a site like this is it becomes easier to connect with likeminded people, thus giving me a good bullpen to work with when I cant meet the demands of the site. Thank you in advance to those people.

Speaking of haters, I have oddly developed a following of fans whose sole purpose is to express how awful of a person I am. Whether its claiming that I am laughably paid by Upper Deck, or any number of other things they like to harp on, I cant help but laugh (and ignore) their constant prodding. Much to their chagrin, it is one of the reasons that SCU has survived as long as it has, and most likely will be a reason why it will continue to thrive. There is no such thing as bad publicity, and I take the good with the bad in terms of people. It also helps that the letters from new collectors I get daily always contradict everything they say, as I have always prided myself at being a resource for uniformed people looking for info.

Lastly, thank you to the fans of SCU, the people who make this site a daily stop on their trek through the web. I live for you guys and gals, and you drive me towards success more than anything or anyone else. Nothing makes me happier than helping someone find an answer, start a blog, or even just talk about the hobby in their own way, and I think the favor is returned every day in many numbers of awesome ways. Then to see their support help get SCU onto ESPN, Deadspin, and Yardbarker's front page, makes me even more thankful for the copious amounts of support they give.

Lets face it, I may not be the easiest person to agree with, read about, or cheer for, but I appreciate the ability to be a part of your favorite pasttime. Thank you all, and here's to another two years!